Folding chair



July 3, 1962 M. A. WILKINSON 3,042,447

FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 1, 1960 INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS nite 3,042,447 Patented July 3, 19-62 lice 3,042,447 FOLDINGCHAR Michael A. Wilkinson, Owego, N.Y., assignor to Stakmore Co., Inc,Owego, N.Y., a corporation of New ork Filed June 1, 1960, Ser. No.33,222 8 Claims. (Cl. 29758) This invention relates to folding chairs.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved folding chairhaving front and rear leg assemblies pivotally connected together butwith the legs of each assembly connected by a plurality oftransversely-extending elements having substantial spacing verticallyalong the length of the legs so that the pivot is not a necessary partof the structure for maintaining the transverse rigidity of either ofthe leg assemblies.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folding chairconstruction in which the seat is joined to the front leg assembly bylinks extending forwardly from the seat to pivot connections with thefront leg assembly, and to construct and correlate the parts so that thelinks extend forward of the pivot and in position to act as stops forlimiting the folding movement of the chair.

Other features of the inventinn relate to a construction in which a morecompact folding chair is obtained by having hinge connections with theirpivots recessed into the bottom of the chair; and to connect the seat toa rearward leg assembly with a bracket that extends forwardly and thenupwardly to a pivot, ahead of the rearward termination of the seat, soas to provide clearance for the portion of the seat behind the pivotwhen the chair is folded.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention Will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

FIGURE 1 is a front View of a chair made in accordance with thisinvention, the chair being shown in set-up condition;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged side view, partly in section, of thechair shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 are greatly enlarged sectional views, taken on the lines33 and 44, of FIGURES 1 and 2, respectively.

The folding chair of this invention includes a front leg assembly 11 anda rear leg assembly 12. The leg assembly 11 includes front legs 14joined together by an upper rail element 15 and a lower rail element 16.The rear leg assembly includes rear legs 13 joined together by an upperrail element 19 and a lower rail element 20.

It is a feature of the invention that the legs of each assembly arejoined together by the transversely-extending rail elements spaced fromone another by substantial distances along the vertical length of thelegs so as to obtain a rigid and stable assembly before the assembliesare connected together. Many folding chairs of the prior art, withvarious combinations of elements, have relied upon the pivot connectionsof front and back leg assemblies to prevent transverse wracking of oneof the leg assemblies.

The upper rail elements 15 and 19 are preferably of bowed contour and inalignment with one another so as to serve as different parts of the backof the chair. In the construction shown, the transverse rail element 19of the rearward leg assembly is of much greater vertical extent than therail element 15, and serves as the principal area of the back of thechair.

The front and rear leg assemblies 11 and 12 are connected together bypivots 24 located near the upper end of the rearward leg assembly 12.FIGURE 2 shows the leg assemblies, in full lines, in the positions theyoccupy when the chair is set up; and this figure also shows, indotand-dash lines, the positions of the parts when the chair ispartially folded.

There is a seat 28 attached to the rearward. leg assembly 12 by hingemeans 30 at transversely-spaced locations across the back of the seat.Each of these hinge means 30 includes a bracket 32 connected to thelower rail element by fastening means consisting of screws 34 whichextend through a flange of the bracket 32 and into the lower railelement 20, which is preferably made of wood. The hinge means alsoincludes a front portion 35 attached to the bottom of the seat 28 byfastening means which preferably consist of screws 36 extending into awooden portion 38 of the seat. On top of the wooden portion 38, the seat28 is shown with padding 40 and a cover 42 above the padding.

The bracket 32 is connected with the front portion 35 by a pivot 44. Inorder to obtain a more compact construction, and one in which thefolding mechanism is inconspicuous, when the chair is in set-upcondition; the pivot 44 is located in a recess in the wooden portion 38of the seat. This recess terminates at some distance ahead of the backof the seat 28; and in order to provide clearance for the back portionof the seat, as the chair is folded, the bracket 32 is made so as toextend forwardly, upwardly and then rearwardly, as shown in FIGURES 2and 3.

The seat 28 is connected with the front leg assembly 11 by linkagesassociated with the hinge means. Each linkage includes a front bracket48 secured to the front rail element 16, and a link 50 connected to thefront bracket 48 by a pivot 52, and connected to the seat by a pivot 54.In the preferred construction, the pivot 54 connects directly with thefront portion 35 of the hinge means; and the pivot 54 is located in arecess in the bottom of the seat 28, and preferably in the same recessas the pivot 44.

The forward end of the link 50 extends beyond the pivot 52, and when theseat 28 is lifted into its fully folded position, as shown in FIGURE 3,the forward end of the link 50 swings downward into position to contactwith a flange 58 of the bracket 48 so as to serve as a positive stop forpreventing further folding movement of the seat.

FIGURE 4 shows the pivot 44 by which the front portion 35 of the hingemeans is connected with the bracket 39. A resilient washer 62 is clampedbetween the confronting faces of the bracket 30 and the front portion 35to maintain a stiff pivot connection with sufficient friction to keepthe chair from unfolding so easily that the seat will drop forwardduring normal handling of folded chairs.

Another feature of the construction, which assists in keeping the chairfolded when in upright position, or slightly tilted out of its uprightposition, is the location of the center of gravity of the seat 28 behinda vertical plane through the pivots 44, as will be evident from FIG- URE3.

When the chair is unfolded and in set-up condition, the link 50 extendsdownwardly out of the recess in the bottom of the chair and then extendsforwardly with a slight offset so that the bottom of the chair at oneside of the recess rests on the link 50. The portion of the bracket 48,above the link 50, extends into a recess in the bottom of the chair inthe preferred construction. In the drawing, the recess in which thepivots 44 and 54 are located, extends far enough forward also to receivethe upper end of the bracket-48, andthis recess is indicated by thereference character 65.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made, and some featurescan be used in different combinations without departing from theinvention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each ofwhich has legs at opposite sides thereof rigidly connected to oppositeends of upper and lower rail elements, a pivot connecting each of thefront legs with the corresponding rear leg near the upper end of one ofthe leg assemblies, a seat constantly hinged to the lower rail elementof the rear leg assembly, links connecting the seat to a rail of theother leg assembly, the links being connected at their rearward ends tothe seat at a location intermediate the front and rear of the seat,brackets connected on the front of a rail element of the front legassembly, pivot connections on the bracket offset ahead of the connectedrail element and connecting the links to said bracket on the front legassembly, said links extending some distance beyond the pivotconnections and in a direction away from the rearward ends of the links,and an abutment surface on each of the brackets below the pivotconnection and in position to stop further movement of the extendingfront end of its associated link as the link swings on the pivotconnection to the folded position of said link, the seat having a flatbottom extending over substantially the full area and to all of theedges thereof and having an intermediate area recessed above the levelof said bottom surface and with said intermediate area beginning atsubstantial distances inward from both of the side edges of th seat, theconnection between the seat and the rail of the rear leg assemblycomprising rearward brackets connected to the front of the railintermediate its ends and extending forwardly and then upwardly into therecess, other brackets in the recessed area secured to the seat andpivotally connected to the rearward brackets, the links to said otherleg assembly being connected to the seat by pivot connections to saidother brackets within the recessed area, and said links extendingdownwardly from the recessed area and forwardly adjacent to the flatbottom of the seat and being inward from the side edges of the seat whenthe chair is in setup condition to make said links inconspicuous.

2. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each ofwhich has legs at opposite sides thereof and upper and lower railelements to which the legs are rigidly connected, a pivot connectingeach of the front legs with the corresponding rear leg near the upperend of both of the leg assemblies, a seat constantly hinged to the lowerrail element of the rear leg assembly, links by which the seat isconnected to the lower rail element of the front leg assembly, the upperrail elements of both leg assemblies being at a substantial distanceabove the seat and being spaced from one another, both of the upper railelements being curved to present similar concave surfaces on the frontsides thereof, and being free of any direct hinge connection betweenthem and being movable into positions to bring the concave surfaces intosubstantial alignment with one another to form upper and lower portionsof a back rest of the chair when the chair is in set-up condition.

3. The folding chair described in claim 2 and in which at least one ofthe upper rail elements is of substantially greater vertical extent thanthe other at its mid portion.

4. The folding chair described in claim 3, and in which the rear legassembly is the lower one, and the pivot connections between the frontand rear leg assemblies include a separate pin on each side of the chairin line with the pin on the other side of the chair along a pivot axiswhich extends across the chair at a substantial distance ahead of thetransverse center portions of the upper rails of both of the legassemblies.

5. In a folding chair having front and rear leg assemblies connectedpivotally together near the upper end of one of said assemblies, railelements in both assemblies, a seat hinged to the rail element of therear leg assembly, links connected at their rearward ends to the seat ata location intermediate the front and rear of the seat, bracketsconnected on the front of a rail element of the front leg assembly,pivot connections on the bracket offset ahead of the connected railelement and connecting the links to said brackets on the front legassembly, said links extending some distance beyond the pivotconnections and in a direction away from the rearward ends of the links,and an abutment surface on each of the brackets below the pivotconnection and in position to step further movement of the extendingfront end of its associated link as the link swings on the pivotconnection to the folded position of said link.

6. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each ofwhich has legs connected together by rails extending transversely of thechair, said assemblies being connected together at their upper ends, aseat hinged to the rail of the rear leg assembly, links connecting theseat to a rail of the other leg assembly, the seat having a flat bottomextending over substantially the full area and to all of the edgesthereof and having an intermediate area recessed above the level of saidbottom surface and with said intermediate area beginning at substantialdistances inward from both of the side edges of the seat, the connectionbetween the seat and the rail of the rear leg assembly comprisingrearward brackets connected to the front of the rail intermediate itsends and extending forwardly and then upwardly into the recess, otherbrackets in the recessed area secured to the seat and pivotallyconnected to the rearward brackets, the links to said other leg assemblybeing connected to the seat by pivot connections to said other bracketswithin the recessed area, and said links extending downwardly from therecessed area and forwardly adjacent to the fiat bottom of the seat andbeing inward from the side edges of the seat when the chair is in set-upcondition to make said links inconspicuous.

7. The folding chair described in claim 6 and in which the recessed areais also spaced from the rearward edge of the seat and the rearwardbrackets extend forwardly under a portion of the flat bottom of the seatand then upwardly and then rearwardly in the recessed area for adistance greater than the height of the rearward bracket pivots abovethe level of the fiat bottom of the seat to produce clearance forswinging movement of the seat into an upright position when the chair isfolded.

8. The folding chair described in claim 6 and in which there are twobrackets connecting the seat to the back leg assembly and each brackethas a pivotal connection to the seat located in the same recessed areawith the link on that side of the seat, and in which the bottom of theseat is made of wood and it has separate recessed areas therein andthere are metal elements attached to the bottom of the seat, and eachmetal element has a flange extending upwardly into a different one ofthe recessed areas, and both of the pivotal connections in each recessedarea connect with the flange whichjextends into that recessed area.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,609,689 Bugenhagen Dec. 7, 1926 1,614,763 Rastetter Jan. 18, 19271,698,698 Hageman Ian. 8, 192.9 1,721,294 Dean July 16, 1929 2,243,811Bales May 27, 1941 2,360,400 Clarin Oct. 17, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,504Great Britain 1872 1,071 Great Britain 1882 975,940 France Oct. 17, 1950

